pontificate
pontificate
Definition
pon·tifi·cate (pän tif′i kit, -kāt′; for v., -kāt′)
intransitive verb -·cat′ed, -·cat′·ing
- to officiate as a pontiff
- to speak or act in a pompous or dogmatic way
Etymology: < ML pontificatus, pp. of pontificare
pon·tif′i·ca′·tor noun
pontificate
Synonyms
pontificate
Usage Examples
Preposition: about
- affair: The arrogance of academics pontificating about rural affairs - are they letting us down?
- need: Within days of the results, their spokesman was on Newsnight pontificating about the need to persuade the electorate to accept the single currency.
Preposition: on
- subject: Clare is better qualified than I am to pontificate on this subject.
- matter: Ignorance is no bar to the daily chore of pontificating on complex matters.
Preposition: at
- length: Meanwhile Nicholas Parson pontificates at great length over the rise of the Lib Dems.
Adjective modifier
- 25-year: John Paul II His 25-year pontificate is 25 years of world history.
- 26-year: It was the first time that John Paul II had failed to deliver the Angelus blessing in his 26-year pontificate.
Modifying Another Word
- about: And all political blogs should be about pontificating from an armchair about issues which the blogger knows nothing about.
- just: However he insists that he is not one to just pontificate but get things done.
- not: BROWN: I am not an expert on that subject, so I will not pontificate on it.
- n't: Boy, he read her feelings and he did n't pontificate, he asked a question.
- away: While the EU Heads of Government were pontificating away in Laeken, we were holding a counter-summit on the other side of town.
Preposition: in
- history: The scope of the text is breathtaking as it sets out the blueprint for one of the greatest pontificates in history.
Browse dictionary entries near pontificate
- pontifical
- pontiff
- pontifex
- Pontic
- Pontianak
- Pontiac
- Pontchartrain
- Ponta Delgada
- pons Varolii
- pons asinorum
- pontil
- Pontine Marshes
- Pontius Pilate
- pontonier
- pontoon
- Pontormo
- Pontus
- Pontus Euxinus
- pony
- pony express
